Statendam’s Tug of War Battle Royale

It is traditional to have competitions as part of the celebration for the Indonesian Independence Day. The competitions took place on August 12th on the large pier in Haines, Alaska, and included tug of war, bakiak race and sack race. The tug of war is always the most exciting of the three games because departments work together to beat other departments on board. Whoever wins has bragging rights for the entire year!

There were eight teams that competed in the tug of war, but the final round was the engine department vs. the deck department. The engine department won the first round. However, a team must win two out three games to be declared the tug of war champion.

For round two the engine team was having a bit of trouble holding their ground. Normally, there are seven people on each team. However, in the first few seconds of round two a few extra people from the deck department decided to join in to help; since most deck department employees are significantly smaller in stature than the engine department employees.

At the end of round two it was the entire deck department (including the captain) vs. the entire engine department. It was a great sight; all of the sudden there were no spectators only tug of war participants!

When all was said and done the engine department was named Tug of War Champions for the 2009 Indonesian Independence Day games.

A great time was had by everyone, including many of the Statendam guests who gathered to watch the games!